North Dakota Police Officer Fights For PTSD Benefits and Justice

“I’m going to tell my story”: Williston officer fights for benefits after traumatic call results in PTSD
Williston Herald
Elizabeth Hackeburg
August 19, 2017

“There is no mechanism in North Dakota Century Code that allows WSI to pay for mental injury such as PTSD or any other health services without a physical injury on the job. The last time the North Dakota legislature looked at this issue was during the 2015 session, and the bill was defeated.”

Williston police officer Bill Holler was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in June after effectively witnessing a gruesome suicide. He is on unpaid leave and fighting for financial assistance from North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance, despite his claim's denial based on state law. Elizabeth Hackenburg • Williston Herald

A Williston police officer who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder several months ago after responding to a horrifying call is fighting for financial assistance from a state agency that helps workers who are injured on the job.

Officer Bill Holler says he is paying for medical treatment, including psychiatric visits and medication, with his own money, and has appealed to North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance three times to help cover the costs after his claim was denied. 

The agency told Holler that under the state’s Century Code, physical injuries, as well as mental harm that is accompanied by a physical injury, are eligible for compensation, but “a mental injury arising from mental stimulus” is not covered. 
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Fake Support Animals Hurting Trained Ones

Are passengers flying with legit, or phony, support animals?
Philly.com
Linda Loyd
FEBRUARY 10, 2017

Airlines are seeing more animals in cabins of planes. Owners can buy medical certificates and service-animal vests online for as little as $40 and avoid airline fees, which can be $75 to $125 each way, for pets to travel.

MARK ESSIG
Daniel, an emotional support animal, on a flight to Asheville, N.C. in October. The duck's owner suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after a 2013 accident. The flight was the owner Carla Fitzgerald's first since the accident, and she brought the duck along for support.

A Chihuahua in a handbag at 30,000 feet.

A marmoset monkey peering out of his owner’s shirt as a Frontier Airlines jet lands in Las Vegas.

A potbellied pig waiting at the gate to board a Delta Air Lines flight in Boston.

Next time you fly, you may encounter an unusual passenger in the next seat. Turkeys, rabbits, roosters, ducks, and geese are legally allowed in the cabins of airplanes as “emotional-support animals.” Owners need only a note from a licensed medical professional — which can be bought online — that the companion animal is needed for emotional and psychological well-being.

“The bottom line is it’s a bad situation,” said Doug Lavin, vice president of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 269 airlines around the world. “The numbers are quite high — in a six-month period from November 2015 to April 2016, one major carrier had 82,000 service animals, of which 54,694 were emotional-support animals.”

“There is a good amount of fraud,” Lavin said. “If you go online, you can find sites and order, for a small fee, a letter from a licensed professional that says you need to bring your potbellied pig on the plane."
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Troublesome grey area in service dog law

Misuse, misunderstanding create troublesome grey area in service dog law
Bangor Daily News
By Abigail Curtis, BDN Staff
Posted Nov. 30, 2014

Ashley L. Conti | BDN Judi Bayly tells her service dog, Kira, a 7-year-old Irish setter, to look at her during lunch at the Olive Garden in Bangor on Tuesday. "The dog gives you the independence to go and do," Bayly said. "Kira's ready to go whenever I am. She's there. She watches over me."

BELFAST, Maine — Judi Bayly’s service dog, Kira, goes everywhere her owner goes. She has to — the calm Irish setter is crucial to the well-being and freedom of Bayly, who has multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

Kira has been on Caribbean cruises, shopping trips to Wal-Mart, to lunches out at restaurants, to appointments at medical offices and many other places. She is trained to pay attention to small signs that indicate Bayly’s blood sugar levels are going out of control, and also to nudge open doors and help her owner navigate tricky, small spaces, including public restrooms.

“Without having Kira to get around, I don’t,” said Bayly, who is living in Hampden right now. “I would just have to stay home.”

That’s why Bayly, 62, gets her hackles up when she hears of people abusing the Americans with Disabilities Act, the law that allows trained service dogs to accompany disabled people in all areas where members of the public can go.

“To be in a store or a business where somebody brings a pet dog that has not been trained for public access, it causes a disruption for the working dog,” she said. “I have literally had a dog jump out of a shopping cart, run five aisles over and bite my dog. My dog got bitten by a fake service dog.”

Bayly and other disability rights advocates would like more people to better understand the law, which makes it a federal crime to both use a fake service animal and to discriminate against a disabled person who is using a real one. More information would help smooth relationships between disabled people and business owners, according to Kathy Hecht of Searsport, a University of Maine at Machias instructor who teaches service dog training and uses a service dog herself.

“As somebody using a service dog, you do have rights protected under the law, but you also have huge responsibilities,” Hecht said. “A lot of people say, ‘I have a disability, and therefore, you have to put up with my dog. But nobody has to put up with a dog that is causing problems.”
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Vietnam Veteran Amputee Navy SEAL still fights for disabled rights

Vietnam Veteran Amputee Whose Late Mom's Car Was Crushed Asks Council for Towing Firm Audit
Hearing that Includes Citizen Input
Huntington News
BY TONY RUTHERFORD, EDITOR
September 24, 2013

A Vietnam veteran and former Navy Seal has asked Huntington City Council to honor employees of the West Huntington Cabell County Public Library as “Hometown Heroes” for their gracious assistance of the amputee.

Telling council that he has endured three serious falls from his crutches, he requested that council consider improving access to the library located across the street from Save-a-Lot.

Refusing to speak from a wheelchair, the veteran spoke on one leg using his right arm to steady himself at the podium.

Thompson asked that a review be conducted of the 48-hour towing ordinance. He stated that his late mom’s mint condition car had been towed in front of his home. Not having the full amount of funds to redeem the vehicle, he was forced to sign over the title and pay $90 just to get his tools from the vehicle.

Council’s Public Safety Committee recently heard input from towing companies objecting to newly proposed Huntington Police Department requirements for towing venders doing business with the city.

Thompson requested that input be taken from citizens who have had their cars towed. In addition, he requested that prior to doing business with the city, towing companies undergo a ten year audit of “everyone involved in the towing and storage business.”

In a prior letter to council members and other officials, Thompson indicated that “I was deeply hurt because I bought the car for my mom who is now deceased.” The vehicle was was “crushed” by the towing company, who (in his words) declined to wait until the first of the month when he would receive a pension check.
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